…and here’s your author’s transalation of the Contrapunto article:
San Salvador: Latin American nations Honduras and El Salvador have the most murderous in the world, according to calculations made by Contraputno and based on murders rates, the best true measure of the magnitude of the phenomenon. The murder rate indicates how many murders occur for every 100,000 inhabitants.
As things stand, at the end of 2010 Honduras had a murder rate of approximately 72.8 for every 100,000 inhabitants, while El Salvador had a murder rate of 71.
Erroneous data that an international news agency diffuses tries to put Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico as the most violent countries in Latin America and the world, however their murder rates are lower than those of Honduras and El Salvador.
In fact, although in Venezuela there were 17,600 homicides (in 2010), its murder rate is 67.6 for every 100,000 inhabitants, as its populatioon is 26 million. In Colombia the mruder rate is 35.7 and in Mexico the murder rate is 14.5 for every 100,000 inhabitants.
By contrasting the figures with nations at war, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, it is notable that their murder rates are lower than the Latin American countries mentioned. In Afghanistan the approximate murder rate was 14 and in Iraq, 18.
The world average murder rate is 8 per 100,000 inhabitants. Rates higher than 10 are considered epidemics by the World Health Organization (WHO).